Unit 20 Sales Planning and Operations Assignment

Program	Diploma in Business
Unit Number and Title	Unit 20 Sales Planning and Operations
QFC Level	Level 5

Introduction

Marketing is an important tool to introduce the products and services of the company in the market. For the purpose of efficient marketing, the adoption of extended marketing mix is required in order to get success in the promotion of the product and to establish the market position of the company. This sales planning and operations assignment report focus on the use of knowledge management in the relationship marketing, the ways in which the information and communication technology helps the organizations for building strong customer relationship and long term customer satisfaction while recommending the methods to improve the customer relationship in D&D Enterprise which is a retail organization. The report consist of the information regarding the marketing in the non-traditional context along with the description of marketing mix in hotel Hilton and the role of IT in service industry. The current ethical issues have also been discussed in the report. The report presented the information about the ethics and social concerns in marketing.

Part 1

Introduction

Relationship marketing is the process which help the companies in retaining the existing customers and gaining customers’ satisfaction. This form of marketing focuses on the long term benefits of the relationship with the customers through implementing quality production processes and providing the customers with better products so that the existing customers remain loyal and new customers may also get attracted. This report consist the study on the relationship marketing in contemporary business and its relationship with the knowledge management. In this report, role of Information and communication technology and importance of customer relationship management in retail industry has been explained while taking an example of an organization Tesco, operating business in retail industry in UK. The report also consist of the recommendations to improve the customer relationship management in D&D Enterprise, an organization dealing in retail industry.

AC1.1 Explain the concept of knowledge management and its role in relationship marketing.

Knowledge management refers to the use of the organizational knowledge to accomplish the goals and objectives of the organization in order to gain the competitive advantage in the market and to establish a position in the market. The knowledge management focuses on the enhancement of the performance of the employees to increase the productivity. The knowledge management has an important role to play in the relationship marketing as the knowledge of the internal as well as external organization is essential to invest the resources of the organization into the development of strong customer relationship. Relationship management requires the knowledge about the target customers of the company in order to focus the goals of the organization in developing the customer satisfaction. The owner of the D&D Enterprises, which is an organization operates in the retail industry across London, is advised to use the knowledge of the organization in knowing the needs and preferences of the customers in order to build a strong relationship (Ranjbarian & Jafari, 2011).

AC 1.2 Explain the ways that ICT (Information and communications Technology or Technologies) can support the customer relationship management process in a particular organization.

Information and communication Technology plays pivotal role in the success of the customer relationship management in an organization. In the time of advanced technology, ICT has made it easier for the organizations to reach the customers and to gather information about the customers. ICT has offered various communication mediums through which the organizations can get in touch with the customers and with the technology in the form of online surveys, emails and other sources research can be conducted to know the recent trends and choice of the customers.The companies in order to retain the loyalty of the customers towards the organization should implement the information and communication technology in the companies so that the customers can be entertained through online services, call centers, system for recording of the complaints of the customers with the help of different software.Information and communication technology eliminates the gap between the organizations and the customers. The organization like D&D can with the help of ICT gather the knowledge about the needs of customers and customized the products according to the demands of the customers and as a result can build up customer relationship (Trainor, et., al., 2011).

AC 1.3 Describe the benefits of customer relationship management in a selected organization similar to D&D Enterprises.

Customer relationship management has become the basic need for the organization to gain the competitive advantage and to sustain the business in long run. CRM is also beneficial for the retail industries like Tesco, where the company implies the customer relationship management framework to gain the attraction of the customers. Tesco follow the policies like distribution of promotional coupons by way of magazines to the customers, introduction of loyalty card has also played major role in the success of the Tesco’s CRM process. Customer relationship management helped Tesco in allocating the target market and to provide a platform to promote the products to the targeted group in an effective manner. The framework of CRM in Tesco helps in formulating the policies and strategies for marketing the products of the company in an effective way (Khodakarami, 2014).

AC 1.4 Make justified recommendations for the improvement in customer relationship management for the selected organization.

In view of the importance of customer relationship management in the retail industry and in retention of the customers, D&D Enterprises has been recommended to implement the CRM framework in the organization for the betterment of the business of the company and to have customer satisfaction. The following recommendations have been made to the enterprise;

1. An effective Customer relationship management software should be installed in the organization and the staff should get trained to make efficient use of the software.
2. Data regarding the target customers should be gathered with the help of the software and keep the data updated in the regular time intervals.
3. Through CRM software, D&D should analyze the needs, demands and the buying pattern of the customers which can help the company to prepare the sales and marketing strategy accordingly and result in strong customer relationship.
4. CRM software should be used for provide various services to the customers through recording the complaints of the customers which can make the customers satisfied with the company and this builds a reputed image of the company in the market (Devi, 2011).

Conclusion

Customers have become the most important element in the success of the businesses of the companies in the present time. The companies are focusing their efforts towards building a strong as well as long term relationship with customers to retain the loyal customers. This report explained the importance of knowledge management in the relationship marketing that the organization should use the knowledge of the internal and external environment consisting of the knowledge of customers in establishing relationship marketing. The report also described the impact of the customer relationship management on the success of the organizations in retail industry and study has been conducted on the CRM framework of Tesco. The report focuses on providing recommendation to an organization named as D&D Enterprises to improve the customer relationship management in the company to gain customer loyalty.

Part 2

Introduction

There are different methods of marketing are adopted by the public, private and voluntary organizations. The methods these organizations adopt depends upon the nature and need of these organizations. This report explained the analysis of the stakeholders of public sector organization Bank of England and non-profit organization NSPCC. The report includes the customer relationship these firms have with their customers and the methods and issues faced by them in marketing the product and services. The report also consist of the explanation of the issues of marketing in the virtual organizations.

AC 2.1 Carry out a stakeholder analysis for a voluntary sector and a public sector organization.

Voluntary sector organizations refer to the nonprofit organizations which operate for the welfare of the society and the main aim and objective of these kind of organizations do not consist of the earning of the profits.

Public sector organizations refer to those organizations which are governed and are owned by the government of those countries in which they operate.

The stakeholders are different and the interests of the stakeholders are different for each category of the organizations. For the purpose to carry out the analysis of the stakeholders in the voluntary sector and the public sector, two organizations have been chosen, which are NSPCC (a voluntary organization) and Bank of England ,a public sector organization (Rixon, 2013).

The stakeholders of NSPCC are;

1. Investors in the charity organization
2. Parents of children who need consultancy
3. The employees and staff of the organization

The stakeholders of Bank of England are;

1. Employers of the bank
2. Customers of the bank
3. Government

AC 2.2 Describe the nature of the relationship with customers within two selected non for profit organizations.

The non for profit organizations work to serve the society and its sole motive is not to earn higher revenues. The customers of these non-profit organizations are those people who are suffering from any kind of disability or disease and assist the support of these organizations. The two nonprofit organizations which can be selected to understand the nature of the relationship of these organizations have with the customers are NSPCC, an organization that work for the protection of the children who are facing any kind of abuse such as emotional abuse or sexual abuse. Another organization can be NHS which operates for the health of the people.

The relationship which NSPCC have with its customers is related to the services which the organization provide to the children in protecting them from abuses and fighting for their rights.

The relationship which NHS have with its customers is of cure and treatment which the organization provide to the customers with the help of the services in the form of treatment of people in mental health, cancer, dental heath etc.

AC 2.3 Compare methods used in marketing within the public, private and voluntary sectors.

There are various types of methods used by the public, private and voluntary organizations adopted for the purpose of marketing. The public organization such as Bank of England uses the preventive and supportive marketing methods for promote its services. The private organization such as Marks & Spencer, focuses the use of such type of marketing methods which includes the methods to develop the product according to the needs of the customers and the other methods of marketing can also be adopted like distribution channels like advertisements, TV commercials, print media etc. The voluntary organization like NSPCC do not focus on the motive to earn profit and the methods are used to communicate about the services of the organization and motivate the customers to work for the organizations.

AC 2.4 Explain the key issues involved in marketing in a selected virtual organization.

A virtual organization refers to the group of firms coming together and share the skills and technologies in order to innovate new products high in quality which can serve the demands of the customers in an effective and efficient manner. There can be some issues involved in the marketing of the virtual organization such as lack of clarity of roles among the members of the organization.  The other issues that can be there in the marketing of the virtual organization can be the issues related to the promotions of the products in the market and to connect to the customers. The issues in marketing can be concerned with the marketing of different products of different companies as the needs are varied for the products of each firm (Pacuraru, 2012).

Conclusion

The report explained the role of marketing in non-traditional contexts. The report involves the analysis of the stakeholders of the public and voluntary organizations. For the purpose of this analysis the study has been conducted on one public sector organization named as Bank of England and one non-profit organization named as NPSCC. The stakeholders were analyzed of these two organizations. The report also provides information about the customers’ relationship with these nonprofit organizations. Methods used and issues involved in marketing have also been discussed in the public, private and voluntary organizations. The private organization which has been chosen for the report is Marks & Spencer and the difference between the marketing methods of the three types of organizations has also been discussed along with the explanation of the issues in marketing faced by the virtual organizations.

Part 3

Introduction

Marketing mix is the process to enhance the sale of the products of the company. The traditional marketing mix comprises of the elements like price, product, place and promotion and popularly known as four Ps of marketing. With the changes in the marketing procedures, extended marketing mix has been introduced and consist of people, process and physical evidence as extended elements of marketing mix. In this report, the extended marketing mix has been explained in context with the service sector business.

AC 3.1 Describe the use of the extended marketing mix in a selected service sector businesses.

Marketing mix has been used by every organization to provide the customers the best product in best manner, available at right time and place. Service industry is a customer oriented industry, the main aim is to provide the customers best services to make them happy and satisfy. The marketing mix includes price of the service, product in the form of service, promotion of these services and place refers to the availability of the service. In service industry, extended marketing mix has great value as it also consist the important factors like people which are the main focus in service sector, process and physical evidence. An example can be taken of a hospitality sector, Hilton hotel situated in London follows the extended marketing mix for the betterment of its business and making the customers satisfied with the services it offers. The use of extended marketing mix in Hilton has been explained as follows;

1. Product: The products element in the hotel is the kind of services it is providing to the customers in the form of hotel rooms, customers services, excellent food and ambience.
2. Place: The element of place for Hilton hotel is to make the services of the hotel available for the customers in worldwide. Hotel operates in around 100 countries serving people.
3. Price: Price in hotel service industry is charged according to the facilities provided to the customers and set depending on the targeted customers for the hotel. Hilton practices the premium pricing strategy in making the luxury services available to customers.
4. Promotion: Hilton promotes itself to attract the new customers and offers are made to the existing customers to retain the loyal customers.
5. People: As the extended element, people is the important consideration in hotel industry as it operates for the people and in the interest of the people.
6. Process: Process involves the activities which are used to make the services attractive to the customers.
7. Physical evidence: In hotel industry like Hilton, physical evidence can be in the form of measurable services for example ambience of the hotel (Talpau, 2014).

AC 3.2 Explain how the product/service mix can be used to enhance value for the customer and organization.

The product mix is the important element of the marketing mix which includes that the product should be developed in the way which can satisfy the customers. The products or the services can be developed in accordance to the needs and demands which are prevailing in the market. The companies should implement the strategies to develop the products customers oriented. The development of the products and services in such a way can enhance the value for the customers and the organization as well. The companies can better resolve the issues of the customers and can build the strong customer relationship with them. The products can be developed in several forms such as additional features can be added to the products or services to make them more appealing to the customers. Even the uses of the products can be increased to appeal more users and gain the new market segment. Similarly the services can also be customized as per the preferences of the customers. These activities can benefit the organization as well as the customers.

AC 3.3 Explain how difficulties peculiar to the marketing of services can be overcome with reference to a particular organization.

Marketing of services can be difficult as compared to the marketing of products to the customers. The difficulties that can be faced by the organizations in the service industry such as hotel Hilton can be;

1. Intangibility of the services is one of the major difficulties in marketing for these services. Hilton can overcome with these difficulties by making the experience of the clients so good that they can trust the hotel for receiving the services worth of the money invested by them.
2. Building trust and to convince the customers is a difficult task for the service industries and it can be handled by recruiting the efficient staff for the hotel which can convey the clients effectively.
3. To set the prices is also difficult for Hilton as the hotel has number of competitors in the market offering similar services at different prices. For this, the hotel should build a brand image and reputation among the customers through best quality services and promotional activities, so that the customers are ready to pay the prices for the quality services offered by the hotel.

AC 3.4 Explain the role of IT (Information Technology) in service marketing management in a selected organization.

Information technology has become the most important tool for the marketing management of the organizations. In the service marketing management of Hilton also IT helps in the accomplishment of various activities of the hotel. Information technology is used to store and record the information of the clients and can maintain privacy of the customers. Hilton also uses the technology in providing services to the customers through online website of the hotel in which the hotel can provide the service of booking the hotel rooms and packages easily. Another role of information technology in the service industry is to promote the hotel with the help of advertisements, TV commercial and other promotional methods (Hamidi, 2011).

Conclusion

Marketing of the services can be done with the help of the implementation of an effective and efficient marketing mix of the services. In this report, the extended marketing mix has been explained in the service sector while taking an example of a hotel named as Hilton. The marketing mix adopted by Hilton has been described in the report.The report also consist of the information about the development of the product and service mix to enhance the value of the organization and the customers along with the description of the difficulties of the service industry in marketing the services.

Part 4

AC 4.1 Explain some of the current issues of ethical and social concern to marketers in a particular industry

Slide 1 This presentation has been prepared to explain the importance of ethics and social concern responsibility in marketing.  The presentation is related to the influence of the ethical standards that are being practiced by the company in order to gain the competitive advantage and to develop sustainable business.

Slide 2 This slide describe the ethics in marketing. Ethics and social concern in marketing builds the confidence of the customers in the products and the services that are being offered to them.

Slide 3 The slide contains the information about the current ethical issues to the marketers prevailing in the society. There are various concerns that can be seen regarding the unethical standards followed in the marketing of the products. The slide consist those concerns and issues in detail.

Slide 4 This slide also explains the ethics that the company requires to follow in presenting the advertisements for the concerned products in a way that it may not harm the society in any such way.

AC 4.2 Explain the concept of CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) with reference to a particular organization.

Slide 5 Corporate social responsibility is the tool to success for the organization as the organizations operates in the society and for the society. The slide explains the corporate social responsibilities of the companies and how these policies help the organizations to gain higher revenues.

Slide 6 This slide focuses on the corporate social responsibility framework in an organization named as Tesco which is a retail organization. It explained the activities adopted by the company towards the fulfillment of its social responsibility with regard to the environment protection, society welfare as well as promoting the health and education in the society.

Slide 7 Tesco also make contributions from the profits of the organization. Tesco also employ its resources in the promotion of the recycle practices which help the organization in building a prestigious place among the people of society.

AC 4.3 Evaluate the role played by a selected pressure group in influencing ethical and social marketing policies for a selected organization.

Slide 8 The pressure groups are the kind of groups whose activities force the organizations to follow the ethical standards in its operations along with the promoting and marketing of the products and the services. This slide shows the impact of media, as a pressure group on the companies in order to adopt social marketing techniques. The companies are always afraid of the negative publicity that the media can do against the reputation of the company and the influence of media in the form of TV commercials, print ads, newspapers and magazines on the ethics and social marketing.

Slide 9 It can be concluded that the marketers can succeed in the competitive environment only by focusing the resources of the company in the development of ethical standards. The marketing of the products in an ethical manner can accomplish the goals of the organizations and can maintain the customer loyalty for the brand. The importance of corporate social responsibility and the issues related to ethics to marketers has been explained in the presentation. The whole presentation focused on the role of ethics and social concern in marketing.

Conclusion

 The report concludes that the organizations should make efficient use of the organizational resources and technology to build the customer relationship management framework. The customer relationship benefits the organization as well as the organization this report explained the concept of the marketing mix in the service industry and described as to how the organization in the service industry can make use of the extended marketing mix in making the strong base for the services offered. The report also includes the concern related to the corporate social responsibility and ethical standards that the organizations have to follow in order to retain the existing customers and to attract the new customers to grow the business. The emphasis has also been given to the development of product and services so that the customers can be satisfied with the customer oriented products. This report concludes that there is an important role of information technology in the service industry as it helps in making the service sectors serve their customers in a better way. The report analyzed the stakeholders and the relationship of the customers with the organizations operating in public sector, private sector, non-profit organization and the virtual organization. The organizations which have been included in the report are the Bank of England, Marks & Spencer and NSPCC.

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